Himmelfarb



EGATING TUBE Feb. 14, 1956 M. HIMMELFARB CHILLED BEVERAGE CONTAINER WITH ICE SEGR Filed Oct. 22, 1953 INVENTOR United States Patent O CHILLED BEVERAGE CONTAINER WITH ICE SEGREGATING TUBE Max Himmelfarb, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application October 22, 1953, Serial No. 387,688

4 Claims. (Cl. 62-142) This invention relates to a chilled beverage container having an ice segregating tube.

In containers of this type the segregating tube conventionally is disposed centrally and is supported by the container cover. The tube is provided with an annular outwardly extending projection near its top which rests on the cover thereby permitting the tube to be slid downwardly into position and to be raised up for filling.

Containers with tubes of this type are subject to many drawbacks. For example, if a container having ice in the tube is placed in a refrigerator for storage prior to use, water which may have formed in the tube will refreeze and cause the tube to swell thereby locking the tube to the cover. For the same reason it is not feasible to freeze water in the tube instead of filling the tube with fragments of ice.

Due to the mounting of the tube by the annular outwardly extending projection, the tube has a marked tendency to rock and makes the container feel unsafe to handle. Indeed, this rocking sometimes is so marked that the tube strikes a container wall and causes the same to crack. On other occasions when the tube sticks in the cover efforts to pull the same out sometimes cause the container to break.

It is an object of my invention to provide a container and tube of the character described having an improved construction which avoids the foregoing drawbacks.

More particularly, it is an object of my invention to provide a tube of the character described which can be removed by either upward or downward movement relative to the cover whereby to enable a swollen tube to be freed from the container.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a tube of the character described whose construction is such as to enable liquids to be frozen in-the tube without preventing relative movement of the tube and cover.

It is an additional object of my invention to provide a container and tube of the character described which mutually cooperate in such a manner that there is no tendency for the tube to rock when the container is carried about or tilted for pouring.

It is another object of my invention to provide a tube of the character described constituting relatively few and simple parts which are inexpensive to manufacture and easy to use.

Other objects of my invention will in part be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

My invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangements of parts, which will be exemplified in the device hereinafter described and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of my invention,

Fig. 1 is a side view of a container constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a top view thereof;

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Fig. 3 is a side exploded view of the container cover and segregating tube; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged central longitudinal view taken substantially along the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 denotes a container embodying the present invention. Said container includes a pitcher or like receptacle 12 made, for example, of glass and having an open top 14. Optionally, and particularly if the receptacle is made of a fragile material like glass, the rim of the top may be protected as with a metal hoop 16 secured thereto by a cementitious mastic 18.

The top is removably closed by a cover 20 which usually is of metal and constitutes a dished upper Wall 22 provided with a skirt 24 that frictionally engages the outer side wall of the hoop 16. As is conventional, the cover includes a shallow pouring spout 26 which communicates with the interior of the receptacle through a slot 28 located in the cover near the spout.

The cover is provided with a centrally located opening 30 from which an upwardly extending collar 32 integrally projects. Said collar is employed as a locatiu and stabilizing means for the segregating tube 34.

The segregating tube has a cross-sectional configuration matching that of the opening 30 and preferably is circular. Said tube includes a bottom wall 36 and an open top. The external diameter of the tube from top to bottom nowhere is greater than the internal diameter of the collar 32. This permits the tube to be introduced into the opening 30 from either the top or bottom of the collar. Hence, if water accidentally freezes in the tube and causes the same to expand, or if the tube is deliberately filled with water and frozen and thereby expanded, it will not be locked to the cover inasmuch as it still can be withdrawn from the opening 30 in a down ward direction.

The top of the tube is closed by a cap 38. Suitable means is provided for detachably securing the cap to the tube, and for this purpose the tube can be formed adjacent its top with a rolled thread 40 and the cap with a corresponding threaded portion 42.

To effect a tight closure a soft rubber disc 44 may be located in the cap immediately beneath the crown 46.

In order to stabilize the tube and retain it in the opening 30, in accordance with my invention the cap 38 is formed with a specially shaped outstanding skirt portion 43 below the threaded portion 42. This skirt portion 48 has an internal diameter greater than the maximum internal diameter of the threaded portion 42, the difference in diameters being slightly in excess of twice the wall thickness of the collar 32. More specifically, the internal diameter of the skirt portion 48 is barely greater than the external diameter of the collar 32 so that, when the cap is seated on the collar, the skirt 48 will frictionally engage said collar not only holding up the segregating tube but preventing rocking thereof. Optionally, the collar may be slightly upwardly tapered and the skirt portion 48 correspondingly tapered to secure good mating engagements between these two members.

If desired, an ornamental lid 50 may be superimposed on the cap 38 to protect and conceal the same. Said lid 56 is cup-shaped and comprises a crown 52 and skirt 54. The latter is adapted to frictionally interengage the skirt portion 48 but does not contact the cover 20.

It thus will be seen that I have provided a device which achieves the several objects of my invention and is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described or shown in the 3 accompanying drawin'gs'is to be interpreted as illustrative and notin' a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. For use with an open-toppedcontainer, a container cover having an opening, an upstanding collar surrounding said opening, an open-topped tubeextending through said opening, the'section of said tube matching the section of said collar and the external diameter of said tube from end to end being slightly less than the internal diameter of the collarso that the tube is slidable into and through the collar from either end thereof and said tube slidably engaging said collar, a cap for the top of the tube, and cooperating means on said cap and tube for detachably interengaging said cap and tube, said cap having a lower skirt portion frictionally engaging the external surface of the collar.

2. For use with anepen-topped container, a container cover having an opening, an upstanding collar surrounding said opening, an open-topped tube extending through said opening, the section of said tube matching the section of said collar and the external diameter of said tube from end to end being slightly less than the internal diameter of the collar so that the tube is slidable into and through the collar from either end thereof and said tube slidably engaging said collar, a cap for the top of the tube, and cooperating means on said cap and tube for detachably interengaging said cap and tube, said cap having a lower skirt portion whose internal diameter is slightly greater than the external diameter of the collar.

3. For use with an open-topped container, a container cover having an opening, an upstanding collar surrounding said opening, an open-topped tube extending through A. said opening, the section of said tube matching the section 'of said collar and the external diameter of said tube from end to end being slightly less than the internal diameter of the collar so that the tube is slidable into and through the collar from either end thereof and said tube slidably engaging said collar, a cap for the top of the tube, cooperating means on said cap and tube for detachably interengaging said cap and tube, said cap having a lower skirt portion frictionally engaging the external surface of the collar, and a lid for said cap, said lid including a crown and a skirt, said skirt frictionally engaging the external surface of the lower skirt portion of the cap.

4. For use with an open-topped container, a container cover having an opening, an upstanding collar surrounding said opening, an open-topped tube extending through said opening, the section of said tube matching the section of said collar and the external diameter of said tube from end to end being slightly less than the internal diameter of the collar'so that the tube is slidable into and through the collar from either end thereof and said tube slidably engaging-said collar, a cap for the open top of the tube, and a threaded portion on the internal surface of said cap, a threaded portion on the external surface of said tube adjacent the top thereof, said threaded portions being matingly engageable, and a lower skirt portion on said cap frictionally engaging the external surface of the collar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,954,370 'Solomon Apr. 10, 1934 2,468,661 Gladstone Apr. 26, 1949 and v i;- 

